Sweden had been dangerous all night
and deserved their first victory over France since 1969. Laurent
Blanc’s unbelievably poor team will now have a quarter-final against
Spain in Donetsk on Saturday.

French defender Philippe Mexes will
miss that game after being booked last night, and France even conceded a
second goal in added time to the excellent Sebastian Larsson.

The highlights reels will focus on
Ibrahimovic, though. The Milan forward has endured an eventful
tournament but his stand-out memory will be the falling volley he
contributed from 16 yards in the 54th minute.

The ball flew off his laces and into the net as he swept his right foot through the ball to connect with Larsson’s deep cross.

Threw it away: France will now face holders Spain in Donetsk on Saturday night

It was a stunning goal and gave
France the punishment they deserved for a wretched performance
following a 23-game unbeaten run. It is unlikely they can recover in
time for their meeting with the defending champions this weekend.

Those who saw them play so well to
beat Ukraine last Friday would have fancied Blanc’s team to roll Sweden
over. Maybe it was the oppressive heat in the Olympic Stadium or because
two of the players who had played so well in Donetsk weren’t on the
pitch. Winger Jeremy Menez was rested because he was on a yellow card
and Yohan Cabaye was injured.

No way through: For the most part, Samir Nasri and the other attacking talent were frustrated

Sweden, with only pride to play for,
should have been in the lead by half-time. They could have gone ahead as
early as the third minute when striker Ola Toivonen peeled off the back
of Gael Clichy and headed a deep Martin Olsson cross just over.

Larsson had a header saved from a
similar position before Toivonen galloped through after a mistake by the
awful Mexes, rounded Hugo Lloris and hit the outside of a post from an
angle.

Star man: Ibrahimovic was the focus of much of the French defence... but they couldn't keep him quiet

Doing his bit: The enigmatic striker did his part on the back foot as well

At times France looked lost.
Newcastle forward Hatem Ben Arfa looked out of sync with Karim Benzema
and Franck Ribery was having an evening to forget.

They had chances. Ribery drove an
early shot at Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson from an angle while
Yann M’Vila and substitutes Menez and Olivier Giroud went close as they
chased the game late on.

Concerns: Nasri took a knock that required treatment during the match, but was able to continue

Clashes: As the game slipped away from France, their frustrations became more and more clear

Sweden remained dangerous on the
break, though, and their whole bench were on their feet as they wrapped
things up in the final seconds.

Another break down the right saw
substitute Samuel Holmen volley a cross into the ground and up on to the
bar before Larsson smashed the rebound high into the net.

That settles it: Sebastian Larsson was on hand to smash home a second goal in stoppage time

French coach Blanc tends to do phlegmatic well. He will know, though, that things will get difficult from here.

He said: ‘Sweden have a player who
can make the difference and that’s what happened but we were too average
in too many areas. We were dominated.

‘We will need to find a new level
against Spain and put in a really good performance, but it’s very
difficult to imagine if we play like we did tonight.’